The horses being startled was the main cause of the accident. An investigation by the authorities revealed that the horses pulling the carriage were startled after being hit in the rump by a dart, suggesting that the accident was intentional.
The constables investigated the origin of the dart, but a long time passed without any progress.
After this incident, Ruan Zhenggang fell ill, and his business plummeted. He no longer had the energy to manage the business, so he handed over the business affairs to Ruan Jin.
On the surface, Ruan Jin seemed very concerned about Ruan Zhenggang's condition, seeking out renowned doctors from all over the country to treat him. However, Ruan Zhenggang's condition worsened, and he became bedridden.
Ruan Fang is Ruan Zhenggang's daughter, just turned fifteen. Her mother, Fang, has been ill for many years and is in very poor health. Her older brother is in prison, her younger brother is only five or six years old and doesn't understand anything, and her father is also sick. So she has become the backbone of the family.
These successive misfortunes in her family surprised Ruan Fang greatly. She felt that there was a hand manipulating things behind the scenes. Who was trying to harm her family?
At first, she thought it was a business rival. The authorities had been unable to find the real culprit for a long time, and she wanted to investigate and find the real culprit herself, which was basically impossible.
It seems that only if the father's condition improves as soon as possible can the family's situation possibly turn around, but there is no sign of improvement at all, and the whole family is extremely anxious.
When his father fell ill, even the renowned doctors that Ruan Jin had invited were helpless. Through an introduction, he invited a feng shui master to see if he had any solutions.
After carefully examining the situation inside and outside Ruan Zhenggang's house, the feng shui master told them that Ruan Zhenggang had offended evil spirits some time ago, which was why he was suffering this retribution. If this situation was not resolved, the situation at home would only get worse.
The family was anxious and asked a feng shui master if there was any way to resolve the misfortune. After thinking for a long time, the master told them that if they wanted to resolve the bad luck, there was a way they could try: to have happy events in the family to dilute the bad luck.
During this period, misfortunes have befallen our family one after another, and there has been no joyous occasion. The master reminded us that getting married and marrying off daughters are both joyous events. Your daughter is not young anymore, so you can consider marrying her off.
At this point, she had no choice but to marry if her father could recover from his illness as soon as possible.
Ruan Zhenggang's condition was serious, and he had no time to attend to his daughter's marriage. So, Fang had to make the decision.
Fang had no choice but to ask Ruan Jin to find a solution. Ruan Jin quickly arranged a marriage for Ruan Fang. The man's surname was Ma, and he was the son of a wealthy merchant from a neighboring county. It was considered a good match for the Ruan family.
For the sake of her family, Ruan Fang had no choice but to agree to the marriage. A few days after the engagement, the wedding was held.
The wedding was very grand. The Ma family sent an eight-bearer sedan chair to fetch Ruan Fang. Because the journey was long, it took several hours.
By the time they arrived at the Ma family home, it was already dark. After entering the Ma residence, Ruan Fang sensed something was wrong. She had married into the Ma family and could have easily arrived by carriage in no time. However, the Ma family had arranged for eight sedan chair bearers to carry the bridal sedan chair, and it took several hours to get there.
When Ruan Fang arrived at the Ma family's house, she didn't see any guests coming to congratulate her. It didn't look like a happy occasion at all; it seemed as if they were intentionally keeping it a secret.
After she entered the room, her head was covered by a red veil, and she couldn't see anything. She felt that everything around her was gloomy, which made her a little scared. But today was her big day, and she should be happy.
Finally, she was helped into a room and sat down on the edge of the bed. An old woman next to her said, "Young mistress, please rest for a while. We will be getting married in a little while."
The old woman's words shocked her. Who gets married at night? Could it be that she was getting married to...?
Upon realizing this, she was terrified. She abruptly threw off her red veil and stood up from the bed.
"Grandma, wait a minute, please tell me what's going on."
The old woman turned around, glanced at Ruan Fang, sighed, and said:
"Child, just accept your fate. Didn't your father tell you? Quickly put the red veil back on; it can't be taken off now." After saying this, the old woman picked up the red veil and put it back on Ruan Fang's head.
Ruan Fang ripped off the red veil, threw it away, and looked at the old woman in front of her, tears streaming down her face.
“My father has been sick for more than half a month and has been lying in bed. He can’t get out of bed at all. What can he say to me? Grandma, please tell me what’s wrong.”
"Isn't that man named Ruan Jin your father? He said you've agreed to this ghost marriage and are willing to stay with Young Master Ma."
"Ghost marriage"—Ruan Fang was horrified. This meant she was being forced to marry a dead person. It seemed that Ruan Jin had orchestrated all of this.
It's obvious that the brother's car accident and the father's sudden serious illness were part of Ruan Jin's grand scheme. His goal is clear: to kill off his family members one by one and ultimately seize control of his family's assets.
If she marries that deadbeat, she'll never be able to leave the Ma family's gate for the rest of her life; this was all part of Ruan Jin's plan.
After Ruan Jin brought down his brother, he plotted to kill his father. After his father fell, he would then target his mother and younger brother.
No, I have to escape. Once I marry that bastard, it will be too late.
Thinking of this, Ruan Fang knelt down before the old woman and pleaded:
"Grandma, please save me, please let me go."
The old woman sighed and said, "Miss Ruan, I really can't help you. If I let you out, I won't be able to live either. Besides, there are people everywhere in the Ma mansion now, so you can't escape at all."
After the old woman finished speaking, she walked towards the door.
Ruan Fang knew that once the old woman left, she would surely lock the door, leaving her with no way to escape. Thinking of this, she took a gold hairpin from her hair and said to the old woman:
"Grandma, this gold hairpin was made by my mother at a cost of several hundred taels of silver. I'm giving it to you in the hope that you'll let me out."
The old woman glanced at the gold hairpin, and her eyes lit up. She turned around, took the hairpin, and examined it carefully. From the old woman's eyes, it was clear that she was already tempted.
"I can help you, and I hope you can escape. If you are caught and brought back, you must not tell anyone about me."
"Don't worry, Grandma. If I manage to escape, I will be extremely grateful for your kindness. If I can't escape, even if they beat me to death, I will never betray you."
"Okay, Miss Ruan, I believe you. Here's what we'll do: change into my clothes, go outside and walk to the back. At the end of the corridor is the backyard of the Ma residence. There are many Taoist priests in the backyard. They will be performing rituals later. No one will notice you there. Just open the backyard gate and leave."
The wedding will be held in half an hour. During this time, go as far as you can, and try to take side paths and avoid main roads.
"Thank you, Grandma. What will you do if I leave?" Ruan Fang said as she changed her clothes.
"You don't need to worry about that, I have my own way of handling it."
Ruan Fang quickly changed her clothes, then knelt down and kowtowed to the old woman.
"Hurry up, let's hurry." After saying that, the old woman started pushing Ruan Fang out. It was clear that the old woman was also very nervous.
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